The Einstein Approximation 

Sheldon wreaks havoc when he is stumped by a difficult physics question.

Director:

Mark Cendrowski

Writers:

Chuck Lorre (created by), Bill Prady (created by)

Stars:

Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Johnny Galecki	...	Leonard Hofstadter
Jim Parsons	...	Sheldon Cooper
Kaley Cuoco	...	Penny
Simon Helberg	...	Howard Wolowitz
Kunal Nayyar	...	Raj Koothrappali
Melissa Rauch	...	Bernadette Rostenkowski
Yeardley Smith	...	Sandy
Kevin Brief	...	Glen

Storyline

Sheldon can't sleep since he is totally preoccupied with solving a physics graphine problem. By association, Leonard and Penny can't sleep since Sheldon is continually bothering them. But Sheldon's sleep deprivation is making him more unusual than ever. He thinks he finally has the answer, not to the problem, but how to solve the problem. Much like Einstein did much of his best thinking when he worked in a patent office doing menial work, Sheldon believes he needs to get a menial job. A genius getting hired for a menial job is no easy feat, so Sheldon insinuates himself into a work situation of his own choice, much to the chagrin of one of his friends. Meanwhile, Leonard and Penny and Howard and Bernadette go on a double date to a disco roller rink. Raj is feeling left out, especially as it was his idea. On the other hand, Penny and Bernadette wish they hadn't gone.

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Plot Keywords:

bazinga | cafeteria | playing with food | slipping on marbles | reference to batman | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The Moonlight Rollerway, in Glendale, was also used in S15, Ep6 of Criminal Minds.

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Goofs

Howard's grip on his fork as he offers corn to Sheldon changes between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Penny: Whatcha doing?
Sheldon Cooper: I'm attempting to view my work as a fleeting peripheral image so as to engage the superior colliculus of my brain.
Penny: Interesting. I usually just have coffee.

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Crazy Credits

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #275 ASK CHUCK! Dear Chuck, At a recent dinner party, I found myself in an awkward situation when the host, a devout atheist, sneezed between spoonfuls of his gazpacho. Without thinking, I said, "God bless you." He gave me a withering look and said, as if to a child, "Golly gee, I sure hope he does." The other guests exploded with laughter, while I imploded with humiliation. To avoid future embarrassment, what is the correct response when an atheist sneezes? Troubled with achoo Dear Troubled, First, a little background information. Saying "God bless you" following a sneeze is thought by some to have originated in the sixth century in order to protect the sneezer from falling ill to the bubonic plague. Another possible origin is that people once believed that the devil entered the body during a sneeze and saying "God bless you" could help ward him off. Since the plague has killed something like two hundred million people and the words "God bless you" have, in all likelihood, been said countless times to Glenn Beck, we can safely assume the phrase has no real power against germs or demonic possession. What it does contain is simple human courtesy -- a means by which we express concern for one another. As to how to respond to a sneezing atheist, well, that's easy. Simply say, "Sounds like you're coming down with something, I hope you don't die and rot in a box."

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Connections

Referenced in Community: Intro to Recycled Cinema (2015)

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Soundtracks

History of Everything
(uncredited)
Written by Barenaked Ladies
Performed by Barenaked Ladies
[Series theme song played during the opening titles]

User Reviews

Let's make Bernadette and Leonard's mother regulars on TBBT

The Einstein Approximation is one of the best shows so far. It shows Sheldon at his classic best. What I liked about this show was that Bernadette controls Sheldon ,not Penny. It is hard for anyone to control Sheldon and Penny does it with sarcasm. This series showed that it could be done in a positive way by Bernadette. I think Bernadette has earned her way into this show every week. I would like to have the writers create a relationship between Sheldon and Bernadette that would be dynamite since the chemistry between them is excellent.

The show is beginning to flounder with too much repetition of certain things. For example Leonard's frustration with Sheldon has reached the point that it appears that he is so depressed that he just does not care anymore what happens to Sheldon or to his life in general. Penny and the other two main characters are becoming just too predictable that it is starting to become boring. We need a new character on every show to interact with Sheldon and the rest of them to make it fresh and new and unpredictable and I think that character is Bernadette. This show is great but lets not lose it.It needs new blood and now. More appearances by Leonard's mother would also help as she and Sheldon are dynamite together.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chuck Lorre Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16 : 9